The overall purpose of this collaborative action research study was to explore the experiences of eight middle school science teachers. This collaborative action research study concerned itself with male student underachievement in science at the middle school level. The study was conducted at Sherwood Forest Middle School (a pseudonym) with sixth…

This case study research reports on elementary (grade 8) and secondary school (grade 9) teachers' participation in job-embedded, professional learning and engagement in collaborative inquiry. Teachers constructed an inquiry-oriented media literacy unit following the collaborative inquiry model. The current study sought to investigate how…

The purpose of this study was to investigate student perceptions of co-teachers. Students with disabilities are more than twice as likely as their peers without disabilities to leave school early (Kortering & Braziel, 2002; Wilson & Michaels, 2006). Students in two inclusive classrooms in an urban middle school participated in interviews about…

The purpose of this qualitative exploratory case study based on Danielson's (2002) assertion that when teachers learn, student achievement improves was to examine how teachers created a collaborative learning experience through Professional Learning Community (PLC) concepts to implement Response to Intervention (RtI) with at-risk students. The…

This study describes key challenges and necessary supports related to implementation of the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics (CCSSM) identified by rural math educators in the Northeast. The research team interviewed state and district math coordinators and surveyed teachers in Maine, New Hampshire, New York and Vermont, to assess their…

Informal science education institutions have been identified as critical participants in helping students succeed in science by working in collaboration with school systems across the country. The results of one such collaboration, the Urban Advantage (UA) program found that participation in UA improved student achievement, on average, by 0.6…

This ethnographic case study examined the roles of district and school macro-culture and teacher sub-group micro-culture in influencing the nature and extent of teachers' professional collaboration. Informed by the sociocognitive theory that learning is rooted in social relationships and develops through interpersonal discourse and activity, the…

This study examined three teachers' responses to professional development initiatives designed to support them in integrating literacy strategies with their social studies curriculum. Data from participant observation, interviews, archival records, and email exchanges provided insights regarding participants' efforts to weave together literacy…

Expanded learning time seems to be a simple idea: by lengthening the school day (or year), students have more time to learn. Yet as schools revisit their schedules and decide how to allocate time in their academic calendars, they can and do face challenging decisions related to time allocations. This brief highlights lessons learned from some…

Coteaching strategies have been implemented in many of the inclusion math classrooms in an attempt to improve the achievement of students. Math achievement continues to be a concern as reported by the National Mathematics Advisory Council in 2007. Educators and previous research reported that coteaching does not improve student achievement. The…

This study examines the collaborative practices between three sets of special education and English/Language Arts teachers involved in the co-teaching of inclusive classrooms--classrooms consisting of both general education and special education students (SWDs). The study took place in two middle schools in two different school districts in New…

With his 10th book, Improving Test Scores: A Practical Approach for Teachers and Administrators, Scott Mandel outlines steps educators can take to boost achievement on standardized exams while maintaining the integrity of their day-to-day teaching. Mandel, who holds a Ph.D. in curriculum and instruction from USC, teaches history and English at…